IIT Archives Catherine Bruck records, 1994-2015

Collection begins with one file (1994-1998) of IIT Archives reference correspondence that was handled by Galvin Library librarians (up to and including Director of Libraries Sohair Elbaz Wastawy) during the period between December 1993 (departure of Valerie A. Metlzer) and November 1998 (hiring of Catherine Bruck). When Bruck was hired she was given a full-time, permanent, non-teaching, exempt position.

Bruck assumed direction of archival operations for the university that had roots back to the mid-1970s. In 1977 IIT had created a university institutional archives in the basement (room 31) of Perlstein Hall, to which records were transferred. William T. Covington, a 1976 IIT graduate in Chemistry, was hired as its archivist and records manager. He remained in that position until June 1982. By around 1987 the "Perlstein Hall Archives" held 690 linear feet of manuscripts and 13 linear feet of publications.

At approximately the same time (1977) the Special Collections unit of Kemper (now Paul V. Galvin) Library listed archives as a component of its collecting scope. By 1987 this archives contained 120 linear feet of material.

In 1985 Special Collections Librarian Anita Anderson was charged with the task of integrating the Perstein Hall archives into her own archives. She assumed oversight of the Perlstein Hall collections, but shared defacto control with various campus offices for some years (primarily the IIT Centennial Office under Elizabeth Kaye).

In 1988 Galvin Library resumed efforts to integrate the Perlstein Hall archives into its Special Collections and hire a professional archivist to develop and operate it. A job description was created and funding secured from the Joyce Foundation for a three-year project. Archivist and historian Valerie Metzler was hired in April 1989 on a part-time basis and became the first professional (or establishing) IIT University Archivist.

In October 1989 Metzler coordinated the transfer of the Perlstein Hall archives to a room in the IITRI Tower, where it remained until January 1991, when it was finally moved (after six years of planning) to Galvin Library and integrated many of the archival materials gathered by Special Collctions. During her tenure (1989-1993) she issued accession numbers, established collecting policies, operated an archives reading room, and initiated the first archives database.

After Metzler's departure at the end of 1993 the University Archivist position lapsed for a few years, though reference and other services for the archives reverted to reference librarians at Galvin Library.

Upon Bruck's hire in November 1998 she resumed Metzler's centralization of university records and donated personal papers. During her tenure (which ended with her retirement in early 2015) she did not have records management authority for the university. To partly compensate for this, in 2005 (under the tenure of Christopher Stewart as Dean of Libraries) an Archives Advisory Committee was formed to establish policy and advocate for the needs of the IIT Archives. The Committee consisted of IIT executives, faculty, and staff from across the administrative and academic divisions of the university. Upon recommendation of the Committee, a second full-time professional position was created for the IIT Archives, and Dr. Mindy C. Pugh was hired as Assistant University Archivist in October 2006. In 2009, an AAC subcommittee was created -- the ID Collection Committee which was responsible for assisting the University Archivist in determining which offers of materials related to the Institute of Design (other than official ID Records) could be accepted by the Archives.